New Delhi, 27 October (H.S.): : The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the petitioners 10 days to file their responses to the affidavit submitted by the Election Commission of India in the case concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant scheduled the next hearing for November 17.

In its affidavit, the Election Commission defended the SIR exercise, maintaining that the process was conducted in accordance with the law and that the orders relating to it had been unanimously approved by all three members of the Commission. In the 248-page affidavit filed by Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yeturu, the poll panel rejected allegations that changes had been made to Form 6, which is used for voter registration. The Commission clarified that the statutory form had not been amended.

On October 15, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Election Commission in the matter. The petitioners include Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M.A. Baby, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Mahua Manjhi, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule and Indian Union Muslim League leader E.T. Mohammed Basheer, among others.

The petition seeks the constitution of an independent committee to examine the decision-making process within the Election Commission concerning the SIR exercise. It also calls for a comprehensive review of the online voter registration system, including the ECINET portal, and urges the court to obtain official records and file notings from the Commission.

Before filing the petition, leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc had held a “Democracy March” in Delhi and marched towards the Supreme Court.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar